Ecology+Quest

Melissa Richardson onlythroughyou74@yahoo.com || ||~ ||
 * =Ecology Quest=

Overview
In Ecology Quest, players become part of an ecology team trying to help restore stable food chains to hard hit regions around the world. The team uses high tech gadgets (maps, charts, and other information) about animal diet and the region to help make effective decisions about sustaining organism interconnections for a sound food web/chain within a biome. 

Instructional Objective
Life Earth Science: Demonstrates a conceptual understanding of the structure and function of living systems,

S6E (4th Grade): illustrates the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem S6C (5th Grade): investigates how structures in organisms coordinate to carry out essential functions S6c (6th Grade): analyzes the function and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in ecosystems

Learners
This e-game is best suited for students in upper level elementary grades, grades 4th-6th specifically. It would be helpful for the learners to have knowledge about organisms' dependence on other organisms' and the necessity for producers, consumers and decomposers to help with the survival of the organisms within the food web.

Context of Use
Ecology Quest can be played at school via the Intranet. The game can be played multiple times by individual students. Players should be able to complete the game within 20 minutes, however it could take up to 30 minutes depending on the ecosystem.

Instructions and a Hint and Help menu will be included to assist with information about the game before, during, and after the game is completed. The game can be modified for a variety of learners and can include food webs that encompass different organisms. The platform used will be SIMS or a Flash-based platform so that the players' actions constitute changes will either allow for growth or demise.

Scope
This game will encompass a variety of food webs within a ecosystem, however, the player will be able to choose from desert, pond, savannah, forest, ocean, grasslands, and rainforest biomes. Ecology Quest will include various types of organisms (plants and animals) that are included in specific biomes. To help the players understand the importance of each organism and their interdependence on each other, the game will transform according to the decisions made about producers, consumers, predators, and decomposers. The game will include branching elements. It willl consist of the seven continent screens, coupled with an initial screen that will allow the player to choose the continent and then a screen that allows the player to choose a habitat found in that region.

Object of the Game
Players in Ecology Quest are striving to restore ecology order, so the goal is to restore the ecology system with the appropriate and vital plants, animals, and other organisms. A successful player is able to sustain a stable ecosystem that grows and prospers. There will be a stability meter that will measure the level of growth and stability. The player wins when the meter reaches and remains at the green mark by the end of the game. Each leg of the game allows the player to come closer to restoring order.

Competing Products
Ayiti: The Cost of Life, [|__http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/rights/explore_3142.html__], is comparable to this e-game because the decisions of the player constitutes the future of the organisms in the game. Both games have a similar goal, to maintain a productive environment for the occupants. In Adventure Ecology, [|__http://missioncontrol.adventureecology.com/__], the participants explore the effects of climate change on the ecosystem. It is similar to Ecology Quest. Both games utilize the idea that pollution can cause unstable conditions that effect all. There is also a mission theme to this game.

Design Details
Universal Elements

The game look and feel of the game will be geared towards upper grade elementary students. The will be a variety colors used in the graphics of the game. The colors will mock colors found in the actual habitats. Clip Art backgrounds depicting the setting of the habitat will be provided along with moveable clip art images of plants and animals that fit the habitat.

Sound will be used to help set the mood, as the student enters the habitat. For example, the students will hear insects and a frog croak as they enter the pond habitat. Music will be included as an introduction to the game. During the game, the players will hear a click each time they chose a type of plant or animal for the habitat.

//Specific Elements//

The following image provides the flowchart that dictates the order or events in the game - [|Ecology_Quest_flowchart.jpg]



Events within Branches:
 * [[image:melmission.jpg width="317" height="186" align="left" caption="Quest Report: Start your quest by clicking on the continent on the world map below."]] || World Map Selection - the player choose a continent on the map to begin ||
 * [[image:buttons.jpg width="315" height="247" align="left" caption="Choose a habitat to begin your mission. You will restore all the habitats in this region."]] || Habitat Selection- the player chooses the habitat to begin the restoration of the food web/chain; there are 3 habitat task to restore within each habitat selection ||
 * [[image:ecopond.jpg width="319" height="208" caption="Example of a pond habitat in the game. The example shows the stability bar at the top."]] || Habitat Task -- the player chooses the habitat task; the player and the rest of the team begin analyzing the mission information (charts, maps, etc.) to know where to begin ||

Description of Characters:

zoologist - provides information about all animals (diet, predators, prey, etc.); carries an electronic database that collects and analyzes animal data retrieved on the quest

botanist - able to provide extensive about plants (nutrients, care needed consumers, etc.; carries an electronic database that collects and stores plant data retrieved on the quest

ecology team manger - coordinates the execution of tasks; specialist in food webs/chains

Technical Elements Authoring Software: The scenes, text, characters, and buttons will be created in MediaBlender. The animation components will be created in Adobe Flash.

Platform: Windows and online (Windows and Mac platforms)

File Formats: Graphics will be used in the.jpg file format. Sound will be saved as .mp3s.

Accommodations: The Windows software version will be available via CD. The online game will be available through a variety of browsers (IE, Firefox, and Safari)

Data Structures: The software will allow the user to save quest, so that they can start from their last quest. The online version will start the player from the beginning. There will not be a save feature.

**Motivational Issues**
Ecology Quest provides challenges in many forms. The game provides a multiple levels of goals that "vary in their difficulty or proximity". The player will encounter different goals as they enter each new habitat. The player may need to reduce or multiply plants and animals to help stabilize the food web/chain. There is randomness involved will also help motivate the players. The use of the plants and animals will be used in various ways, decisions made by the team will also change throughout the game according to the situation. An appropriate decision made in one habitat may not fair well as an appropriate decision in another habitat.

In the __ACRS Motivational Model__ attention-getters can help motivate the learner. This e-game incorporates attention-getters like, animation, sound, and interactivity. The player will encounter background sound to help set the mood of the habitat. There will be animation in the form of the animals and plants placed in the biome. The player will also see animation and perform tasks interactively as the team members provide information and move about the board to assess.

Design Process
The design of the game was inspired by the use a multimedia software I used titled, MediaBlender (correct spelling). The software allows one to use animation, audio, navigation, and movies to create an multimedia environment. I recently played the Ayiti game, which help me decide to create a game that focused on improving conditions in the world.

I received some feedback from my professor, but became a bit deadlocked on the look of my game. When I began thinking of the design details I thought it would be appropriate as a branch, so that the player could apply their knowledge and skills in variety of scenarios. I liked the way Sunny Meadows Simulation, [|__http://puzzling.caret.cam.ac.uk/game.php?game=foodchain__], allows the player to add plants and animals. The player can also view the affect over years and adjust the speed. I also patterned my design from the interactive food chain game found here [|__http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=foodchainsI__]. This games follows the branching concept. The player clicks on buttons to enter into a desired habitat. Once inside they complete a food chain by placing the organisms in the correct order.

I enjoyed this game, but would have liked to have taken it further and created a prototype. I would like to practice using more platforms and I am intrigued by the kind of e-games created for online use.